So far, apparently, it’s been ignored. But with so little progress being made in reining in the disease steadily spreading through North America deer and elk herds, perhaps it is time for a fresh look at the culprit spreading CWD.

Researchers modeled fawn survival relative to the percentage of agricultural land cover. The estimated average survival to six months of age was about 41 percent in contiguous forest landscapes with no agriculture. For every 10 percent increase in land area in agriculture, fawn survival increased by almost 5 percent.

University Park, Pa. —Researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences are spearheading a four-year-old collaborative effort to assess the impact of a warming climate on the Eastern red-backed salamander, a creature that lives on or under the forest floor. Because these salamanders do not have lungs, breathe through their skin and must live in damp places, they are extremely…